11.22.2005

Is it all it cracked up to be?

contentment
n : happiness with one's situation in life

This is a word that gets thrown around a lot. I have a question. Must we be content? I am not content right now. Is that a bad thing? I have been taught for years that it is. I am not sure anymore. The dictionary definition doesn't really seem to help. Although it doesn't seem like a big deal to go through periods of not being happy with one's situation in life. Everyone has times where they don't really like where they are. Of course except the one's that go through life with the golden spoon.

So is contentment a choice or determined by circumstances. On the one hand, we can control how we respond to things and even through a rough period, be happy. On the other hand, there are just some things that happen in life that would not make anyone happy. The correct response to these circumstances is to deal with them and not buzz through them merrily on your way, avoiding at every turn.

I don't know the answer, I am just not sure that how I've thought about contentment before is the correct way.

2 comments:

Proteinstar said...

Philippians 4:12-13, "I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength."

Insert Websters definition for content and you have your answer. Definately not easy.

Nathan Hackman said...

Yeah, like Spew said. It's a delicate balance. Contentment doesn't mean giving up belief that life holds more for you than your current situation provides. It does mean that we have to accept the current situation, until He feels that it is time we move on. We need to be satisfied in the knowledge that undsirable circumstances will not last forever, but no be overly anxious about when they might end.